Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-05-07

region, some distance 10 the north Of where tho
Zambes falls into the sea, there Is headlnnd, at
the extremity Of which peak towers up, shaped
like the head Of n negro, similar 20 that Of which
the writing speaks. landed there, and learned
from wandering native, who had been cast out
by his people because Of some crime which he
had committed, that far inland are great noun
tains, shaped like cups and caves surrounded by
measurcless swamps l learned also that tho
people there speak a dialect OF Arabic and ore
ruled over by beautiful white woman, who Is
seldom seen by them, but who Is reported to have
power over all things living and dead Two days
after had ascertained this the man died Of fever
contracted In crossing the swamps, and was
forced by want Of provisions anaby symptoms Of
the illness which afterward Frustrated me 70 take
10 my dhow again.
OF the adventures that befell me after this ]
need not now speak. was wrecked upon the
coast Of Madagascar, and rescued some months
sfterward by an English ship that brought me TO
Alden, whence / started for England, intending to
prosecute my search as soon as had made sufi-
oient preparations. On my way | stopped In
Greece, and there for "omnla vincit amor" met
your beloved mother md married her, and there
you were born and she died Then II was that my
last Illness seized me, and returned hitherto die
Dut still hoped against hope, and set myself TO
work to learn Arabic, with the intention, should
ever ret bc.r OF returning to the coast OF Africa
has lived 50 many centuries In our family But
have not got better, and, so far as am concerned,
the story is nj an end.
For you, however, my son, It Is not at an end,
and 20 you hand on these the results Of my labor
together with the hereditary proofs Of its origin.
1t is my intention TO provide that they shall not
be put into your hands until you have reached ON
age when you will be ableto judge Cor yourself,
whether or no you will choose TO investigate
what, If 1t is true, must be the greatest mystery
in the world, or to put II by as an idle fable,
originating in the FIRST place in woman's dis
J oplered brain.
do not believe that It is fable; believe
that II It can only be redlscovered, there Is spot
where the vital forces of the world visbly exist
Life exists why, therefore, should not the means
Of preserving it indefinitely exist alsoi But 1
have no wish TO prejudice your mind about the
matter. Read and judge for yourself. If youare
inclined to undertake the search have 80 pro-
viled that you viii not lack for means II, on the
other hand, you are satisfied that the whole
thing Is chimera, then allure you to de-
stroy the potsherd and the writings, and
let cause of troubling be removed from
our race forever. Perhaps that will be wisest.
The unknown is generally taken to be ter
rible not as the proverb would infer from the in
herent superstition Of man, but because 1t so
: often Is terrible. He who would tamper with the
vast and secret forces that animate the world
may well fail victim 10 them. And II the end
were attained If at last you emerged from the
, trial ever beautiful and ever young, defyng time
: and evil, and lifted above the natural decay of
flesh and intellect, who shall say that the awe
| some change would prove n happy oneY Choose,
my son, and may the Power who rules all things,
and who says, Thus far shalt thou go, and thus
much shalt thou learn, direct the choice TO your
. own happiness and the happiness of the world,
which. in the event of your success, you would
Q one day certainly rule by the pure force Of ac
: cumulated experience. FAREWELL
Thus the letter, which was unsigned and
: undated, abruptly ended.
i "What do you make Of that, Uncle Hollyg'
: said Leo, with sort of gasp, as ho replaced
Q il on the table. ave have been looking for a
t mystery and we certainly seem to have found
one"
Q "What do make OF it9 Why, that your
J. dear father was Off his head, Of course" an
= swered. testify. II guessed as much that
n night, twenty years ago, when he came int
o my ROOM You see, he evidently hurried
n his own end, poor man. 1t is absolute balder
o dash"
y "Thats it, SIR" said Job, solemnly. Jot
d was a most matter Of fact specimen Of mat
, ter of fact class.
IS swell, lots see what the potsherd has tc
d say, at any rate" said Leo, taking up tn,
1t translation in his fathers writing and com
l. mencing to read:
: al Amenartas, of tho royal house Of
a Hakor, Pharaoh Of Egypt, wife of Kali
d CRATES the strong and beautiful, or the
IS beautiful in strength, priest of Isis, whom
y the gods cherish and the demons obey, being
d about to die, to my little son Tisisthenes (tht
10 mighty avenger). fed with thy father from
d Egypt in the days of Nekht-nebf, causing
,, him through love to break the VOWS that ht
d had vowed. We fled southwark, across thu
a waters, and we wandered for twice twelve
l moons on the coast of Libya (Africa) thai
D looks towards the rising sun, where by &
n river is great rock carven like the head o.
If an EthiopiaF. Four days on the water from
e the mouth IT mighty river were we cas-
3, away, and some were drowned and some dice
r, of sickness But us wild men took through
Is wastes and marshes, where the sea fowl hit
the sky, bearing us ten days journey, till W,
came to a hollow mountain, where grea
a city had been and fallen, and where there ar
caves of which no man hath seen tho end
e and they brought us to the queen of the PEG
If pie who place pots upon the heads of strang
al ers, who Is q magician having knowledge o
q all things, and life and loneliness that doe
y not die. And she cast eyes of love upon th,
father. Kallikrates, and would have slail
me, and taken him to husband, but he love-
me and feared her, and would not Then dit
she take us, and lead us by terrible ways, b,
means of dark magic, to where the great pi
is, in the mouth of which the old philosophe
i, Law dead, and showed to us the rolling pilla
s of life that dies not, whereof the voice is a
:" the voice Of thunder, and did stand in th
TX flames, and come forth unframed and We
IN more beautiful. Then did she swear to max
g thy father undying, even as she is. if he woul
=, but slay me and give himself to her, for m
she could not STAY because Of the magic C
my own people that l have and that pre-
m vailed thus far against her. And he held hi
lg hand before his eyes to hide her beauty, IN
ne would not Then in her rage did she smit
40 him by her magic, and he died; but she weI
over him and bore him thence with laments
err tions, and being afraid, me she sent to th
d, mouth Of the great river where the ship
D. come, and ] was carried far away on th
a. y; ships, where gave thee birth, and hither t
in Athens / came at last after many wander
III ings. Now say to thee my son, Tisisthene'
i'd seek out the woman and learn the secret {
lie life, and il thou mayst find way slay hel
no because of thy father Kallikrates; ard If tho